Dale Bumpers: “They were raised on private land. However, other people in Arkansas currently graze on Forest Service lands. Moreover…”

“They were raised on private land. However, other people in Arkansas currently graze on Forest Service lands. Moreover, fees paid on eastern Forest Service lands, including Arkansas, are currently calculated using a formula that is different than the western Forest Service lands. The formula for eastern Forest Service lands is based on fair market value and is currently $2.50 per AUM. Additionally, any new or vacant permits on eastern Forest Service lands are competitively bid. When I was elected Governor of my State, I charged five times as much per AUM for my farm lands as the Federal Government receives now. I did not just fall off a turnip truck when it comes to cattle. I raised cattle for several years and I know something about it. I enjoyed some good times and some bad times. I will never forget back in the late 1960's, the story about two farmers meeting. My area of Arkansas is cattle and poultry farming. Two farmers met in the restaurant. One said, ``I lost $100 already this morning.'' The other said, ``How on Earth did you do that?'' He said, ``My cow had a calf.'' That is how bad prices were for cattle. Back to the point, not only do 9 percent of all BLM permittees control 60 percent of the AUM's, according to GAO, 2 percent of the 22,000 permittees control 50 percent of all the land. Who are they? I will come back to that in just a moment.…”